Too Little Too Late — Phillies fall to 0-2 in NLDS

People love to say that the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again, and expecting a different result.

I, and many other Phillies fans, have officially gone insane.

We have to watch the same team and the same manager year after year have the same problems in the playoffs, yet coming in, we all expected a different result. Unfortunately, the result is always the same. Bats go cold, the bullpen can’t keep a lead, and the manager makes mistakes. The same three problems have plagued this team since 2022, and yet four playoffs later, they were only getting worse.

The Phillies fell to the Dodgers, 4-3, tonight, and are now down 0-2 in the best-of-5 NLDS as the series shifts to Dodger Stadium.

After a tough loss in game 1, the Phillies turned to Jesus Luzardo to get the series back on track. In his first postseason start as a Phillie, Luzardo more than did his job.

He seemed a little amped in the first inning, but after getting the playoff jitters out, he really settled in. At one point in the 6th inning, Luzardo retired 17 straight batters. Rob Thomson decided to send Luzardo back out for the 7th inning, and he quickly gave up back-to-back hits. Even so, with a final line of 6 innings and 2 earned runs, he more than did his job. Both of the runs were given up by Orion Kerkering.

On the other side of the bump, Dodgers starter Blake Snell had an even better night. Snell seemed to be able to put the baseball wherever he wanted tonight, and held a no-hitter into the 5th inning when Edmundo Sosa singled to center. In the first three innings, the Phillies swung and missed 11 times, all on offspeed pitches. Snell finished with a line of 6 innings, 1 hit, and 0 runs. While Luzardo was good, Snell was better.

The story of the last four postseasons has been that when it matters most, the bats go cold. Unfortunately, this trend has continued into the 2025 postseason.

The Phillies’ top of the lineup, which has $709 million in total contracts, has gone 2-21 this series, with one hit each from Trea Turner and Bryce Harper. This is absolutely inexcusable from the players who are supposed to carry this offense.

While Turner is just coming back from an injury, too many of his at-bats are unproductive. With a chance to tie or win the game, the Phillies $300 million man came up small.

Kyle Schwarber, who is up for a contract this offseason, is hitless this postseason and has not had a postseason hit since his first at-bat of the 2024 playoffs. Schwarber can barely even make contact right now and has many fans questioning if he should even be back next year with his recent postseason performances.

While Harper has been great in the postseasons of late, he has been horrible in the two games so far. Bryce had multiple chances with runners on base to get the big hit, and he consistently swung at pitches outside the strike zone and failed to come through.

The three stars of this lineup have played anything like it so far this series. The Phillies’ offense as a whole has not been good enough these last couple of postseasons, but it’s hard to look past the top three guys in this lineup.

After a great regular season, it seemed as if Thomson’s job was all but safe for next season. Now, he may have the hottest seat in baseball.

With 2 runners on and 0 outs, Topper went to Kerkering out of the bullpen. Since August 1st, Kerkering has inherited 11 runners, allowing 6 of them to score. This had been a problem for Kerkering all year, yet Topper still went to him.

Not surprisingly, it backfired, and after putting Matt Strahm in the game to face Ohtani, the Dodgers had a 4-0 lead.

While Straham did get Ohtani out in game one, going right back to the pitcher who blew game one sure is a questionable decision.

Before both games 1 and 2, Thomson said that Strahm was available out of the bullpen, yet he was never used. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has used his starters out of the bullpen, and it has worked tremendously for him. Yet, Ranger Suarez still sits unused.

As if the bullpen choices were not bad enough, Topper made the decision that may cost him his job in the 9th inning.

In the 9th, the Phillies found some life. After hits by Alec Bohm, J.T. Realmuto, and Nick Castellanos, the Phillies had pulled within one. With Castellanos on second and 0 outs, Topper decided to bunt Bryson Stott.

In my opinion, this was a horrible decision. Because of Harrison Bader’s groin injury, you had to save the pinch runner in case he got on base, so you had to leave Castellanos on second. Castellanos is a very slow runner, so any play at third base was going to be close.

But the biggest problem with the bunt is playing for the tie. In a game where your season is on the line, with a runner on second base and no outs, you are playing for the tie? A complete loser mentality.

The Phillies needed Stott to reach base, and if he gets a base hit, it is a tie game with the winning run on base. This was a cowardly decision by the skipper that cost them the game, probably their season, and may just cost him his job.

The Phillies will, in a controversial decision, turn to Aaron Nola for Game 3 in Los Angeles on Wednesday night. Nola has really struggled this season, pitching to a 6.01 ERA.

Topper said postgame that Suarez had the possibility of piggybacking Nola. There is a possibility that Suarez, who is a free agent after this season, may not pitch these playoffs, or the Phillies ever again.

Suarez has earned the game three start, and going with Nola is another mistake by Thomson. We will see if the Phillies still have any fight in them, or if their season will whimper out on Wednesday night.

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